Ask Pauline Gacheri about her childhood and she dives into the tale of how she and her family spent more time at Kenyatta National Hospital than in their home in Kwa Huku Village in Nanyuki. The hospital trips were because of her younger brother who had spent his short life battling a chronic illness that Pauline could not understand. When he passed away, his memory lived on but no one at home spoke about the cause of his death, and this affected Pauline’s performance at school. Her mother, ever observant, saw how deeply Pauline had been affected and decided that a change in environment was best. A new start would allow her to focus, and with that, Pauline was off to Meru where she would join Gaketha Boarding Primary School.

It took a while but eventually, Pauline’s grades began to improve. In a matter of months, Pauline went from being one of the weakest students to topping the class. The school awarded Pauline with a small token of congratulations. She received a copy of Gifted Hands, the book based on the life of world-renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson. By this time, Pauline had not given much thought to the career she wanted to pursue. But back then, the prevailing mentality was that children should only aspire to be doctors, lawyers or engineers. And so, when she was awarded this particular book, everyone seemed to believe that she was destined to become a doctor. This narrative became so constant that Pauline adopted it as her reality.

After primary school, Pauline stayed on in Meru and joined St. Mary’s Girls’ High School. The upward trajectory in her grades continued and in 2005 when she sat for her KSCE exams, she emerged as the top-performing female student in Eastern Province. This feat enabled her to pursue a course in Medicine, so off she went, all the way to Eldoret and through the gates of Moi University. In 2013, Pauline earned her degree and returned to Meru where she was posted for her internship. At Meru Level Five Hospital, everything was fast-paced and Pauline soon got into the rhythm of things. Her work ethic impressed her supervisors and once the year was over, she was employed as the Medical Officer of Health for Tigania West subcounty and was stationed at Miathene Sub County Hospital.

Pauline’s work as a general physician brought all kinds of ailments to her attention, the most intriguing being the various skin diseases that her patients suffered from. The number and severity of these diseases covered a wide range, and her undergraduate training didn’t prepare her on how to treat these conditions. Pauline would often have no option but to refer many cases to Kenyatta National Hospital. It was frustrating not being able to do the one thing she was expected to do, and from this came the decision to become a skin doctor.

The search for a university that offered postgraduate courses in dermatology commenced soon after. It didn’t take long for Pauline to realize that dermatology wasn’t taught at a postgraduate level in the country. She wasn’t keen on leaving the country to pursue her studies because at the time, her daughter was nine months old and she couldn’t bear the thought of being away from her for two years. But she had a strong support system; her family assured her that her daughter would be taken care of. This gave Pauline the confidence to expand her search. Cardiff University was a respectable institution in Wales and looked like the best place to continue her studies but then came another issue: how to pay for the course. The tuition fee alone ran well into seven-figure digits, and she had been turned down for every scholarship she had applied for. By this point, Pauline felt compelled to become a dermatologist, so she got a bank loan to finance this necessary pursuit.

In 2018, Pauline graduated with a Master of Medicine degree in Dermatology. Upon her return, she was placed in charge of the clinical and cosmetic dermatology department of Meru Level Five Hospital.

Today, Pauline is one of the few dermatology specialists in Kenya. Her excellence is seen in the number of people that travel from as far as the northern frontier for consultation and medication. Beyond consultation, Pauline’s work also involves educating people about skin diseases through community outreach programs. She is aware that many skin diseases are thought to be contagious when it’s not the case, and how these misconceptions lend a hand in the ostracism and stigmatization of the sick.

We celebrate Dr. Pauline’s dedication to healthy skin. She is a beacon of hope to people in county 12 and beyond!

#KeHealthWorkers